The Bluejay girls soccer team softened the blow of a pair of last week WVC losses by handling Mosinee 4-1 on Monday.
“It was a pretty good game for us,” MHS coach Will Bialecki said. “We communicated better than usual and we seem to be figuring out how to shoot.”
Sydney Harris scored in the 13th minute, beating the goalie 1-on-1 after running onto a Kristin Stiver through-ball. Shelby Swiechowski also scored in the first half, kicking it into the goal as the tender was attempting to pull it in, although it was disallowed due to interference.
“In my eyes, the ball was on the ground so the goalie didn’t possess it,” Bialecki said. “Luckily we didn’t have to deal with it.”
They nearly did, since Mosinee knotted it at 1-1 early in the second half, and the game was approaching the final five minutes when Alyssa Noland sent a ball through that Harris raced to reach and kicked far post.
In the final minute, Noland blasted a shot that was partially blocked and as the goalie had a 50/50 shot to collect it, Ellen Donner crashed and put it away.
Merrill finished with a season-high 15 shots on goal. Breigha Bienfang-Johnas made 4 saves.
The Jays improved to 3-12 with the win and were 0-8 in the Valley before Tuesday’s game.
Tiger leap
Marshfield worked a 3-0 win on Thursday behind two goals in the 1st half and one in the 2nd.
“They had quite a few shots on net but they were all deep,” Bialecki said. “Not a single one was inside the 18. It was pretty impressive to see how all their girls could shoot from out there. That seems to be our weakness. We can’t pull the trigger. Even if you don’t score, you may get a rebound shot.”
Freshman Darien Motter scored in the 24th and 68th minutes. Defenseman Alyssa Brenner converted a corner kick in the 36th minute.
Bienfang-Johnas finished with 20 saves and Merrill put 6 shots on goal.
“Ellen had a great shot late that hit the post,” Bialecki said. We all thought it was going in.
“Breigha had really good games both (Tuesday and Thursday). For the most part our defense played awesome. After the games, both coaches told me they hoped we win some more games so they don’t see us in the first round of the play-offs.”
Everest efficiency
The Jays held WVC leader D.C.E. scoreless for a half hour, but the Evergreens knocked out a 3-0 lead in a five-minute span. A two-minute burst midway through the 2nd gave the 5-0 victory margin.
“It went better than we could have expected,” Bialecki said. “We held them without a goal for 30 minutes, and 10 minutes in we had a cross in front of the net with three girls wide open, but they all missed the ball. Shelby and Sydney both had 1-on-1 chances, but couldn’t get a shot off. It seemed to me we handled the ball as well as they did.”
Beingfang-Johnas made 16 saves and Merrill had 5 shots on goal.